What is Counselling?

If a thing’s worth saying, it’s worth saying twice: Counselling is NOT telling people what they should be doing. If that were counselling, we’d all be at it down the pub and we wouldn’t need training, and codes of conduct, and all that.

Counselling starts off with two VERY big ears and one RATHER small mouth. I’m living proof that being listened to once in a while can turn your life around. Nine years ago I found I’d dug myself into a corner and got well and truly stuck: I felt angry, frustrated, stressed-out, bored and lonely. Happily, my doctor referred me to someone he said could help - she turned out to become my first therapist and a good friend.
She didn’t tell me what to do (though she did teach me one or two ways to crack the stress) but she gradually helped me to see I still had choices and that if I was stuck in a corner, I could get out of it.

I was eventually able to make choices that changed the direction of my life; they’ve already made my life a lot less stressful and a lot more fun.